EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Mike D'Antoni has a way of making misery sound manageable.

The Los Angeles Lakers coach flashes that West Virginia grin as he talks about the latest player to have a season-ending injury. He offers tension-breaking quips when the topic of his uncertain future comes up. He relies heavily on the self-effacing shrug, that humanizing and helpless gesture that should unofficially symbolize this woeful 17-month stretch since he arrived in November 2012.

But as D'Antoni discussed Tuesday his disappointing lot in LakerLand life, from this injury-ravaged season that is the Lakers' worst since moving to Los Angeles to the rebutted notion that Kentucky coach John Calipari is in line to have his job, there was nothing more revealing than his decision to reach for a particular quote again.

"I've said it before, and it's because, (expletive), it seems like I'm always in it," D'Antoni told USA TODAY Sports,"but it's like Winston Churchill said, 'If you're in hell, just keep your head down and keep on going.' "

"You weather it because you weather it," D'Antoni continued. "It's not the greatest thing in the world, but you put your head down and keep going. It's up to the franchise to decide what direction they want to go, and then you go with it. I'm ok with whatever. I'm just going to do the best job I can do."

So will D'Antoni make it through hell and back and be around to take part in Phase Two of the rebuilding era next season? Probably not, but it does remain possible. He has one year left on his contract worth approximately $4 million, and he has the respect of the most credible basketball man in their building: general manager Mitch Kupchak.

No final decision has been made on either side — no matter how many times this storied team's insatiable fan base has called for his head and put pressure on the team's top basketball voice, Jim Buss, to make a change. But as D'Antoni made clear, he's at peace with whichever direction this situation goes.

There are what-ifs that appear to be in play that involve D'Antoni returning, specifically the notion that the Lakers might need a coach who's known as the "point guard whisperer" if they land 18-year-old Australian point guard Dante Exum in the June draft and need D'Antoni's help in speeding up his learning curve. Exum, who signed with Kobe Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, and seems to have the Black Mamba's strong backing, has only increased speculation that he's targeting the Lakers as his hoped-for team by becoming a regular at home games this season.

What's more, all coaching options would appear to be in play so long as a no-brainer replacement doesn't come to the forefront. The Calipari rumor was started by former Kentucky star Rex Chapman and vehemently denied by the Lakers. Phil Jackson — whose living ghost has haunted D'Antoni in Los Angeles since the day late owner Jerry Buss picked him over the "Zen Master" — is no longer an option now that he's running the New York Knicks (nor does he want to coach nor, despite the best attempts of Bryant and Magic Johnson, have the Lakers shown any interest in bringing him back).

Byron Scott? The leading scorer for the 1987-88 championship Lakers was known to be on the short list of late owner Jerry Buss and would no doubt make some of the incensed fans happy. But Scott, who is an analyst on the Lakers' regional network, has a losing record overall (416-521 for the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers) and had his worst stint yet in three seasons with the Cavaliers. If Jerry Buss' dying wish of seeing "Showtime" 2.0 is still a priority to his children who are trying to find their way without him, then Scott's name is worth remembering.

Brian Shaw? The fellow former Laker would certainly be a strong candidate but is in his first season as head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Kurt Rambis, the former Minnesota Timberwolves coach, current Lakers assistant and Jackson protégé? Who knows. Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins? Perhaps.

For D'Antoni's part, no one can blame him for feeling the effects of that purple-and-gold bus he has been under for quite some time now. His reputation as one of the most innovative offensive coaches in the game has been unfairly tarnished, battered by the nonstop drama and health woes that began with his hiring at the start of last season and have gotten so much worse ever since. He wasn't Phil Jackson then, nor is he now, and that remains as big a problem as any with this fit in this town.

No one talks of the 28-12 finish to the 2012-13 campaign or how Bryant played some of his best all-around basketball during that time, when the Lakers shocked us all by making the playoffs. Bryant went down with his torn Achilles tendon right about the time they got rolling. D'Antoni's prized pupil, point guard Steve Nash, was absent because of injury when it mattered most just as he has been for most of his time with the Lakers. Howard, who struggled to coexist with Bryant and preferred Jackson to D'Antoni from the start, bolted for the Houston Rockets via free agency not long after the Lakers were swept in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs.

It was only fitting, then, that these Lakers had a chance to make unwelcome history Tuesday with Howard back in their building. His departure is what caused this mess, one that is likely years from being cleaned up now that Bryant's extension (two years, $48.5 million) has cut so deep into their salary cap space and the internal power structure between seems so unresolved.

It's an NBA hell, in other words, with a heavenly history that will be put to the test whether D'Antoni is here or not.

"Hey look, this is a great place," D'Antoni said. "Any player who has a destination of L.A. — it's pretty good. I've been lucky to be here. I don't want to say, 'Oh yeah (I'll be back),' but I don't know. And I'm sure that everybody is going to have to sit down and figure it out.

"I think the franchise will have a way that they want to get to the best, to the top, and you go with it. And if I'm included in that, great. That's how it goes."

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